Jaguar Land Rover has sued the Volkswagen group of companies over alleged patent infringements, as first reported by Bloomberg.
Jaguar Land Rover alleges that certain off-road vehicles made by Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, and Bentley are using the Terrain Response technology, invented and patented by Jaguar Land Rover, without permission.
They are asking the courts to halt all sales of the affected VW group vehicles in the US. This conflict has been brewing for quite a while, but erupted into public view last week, when JLR filed a number of lawsuits.
The question is, is this the legitimate complaint of an innovative, smaller company being taken advantage of by a much bigger competitor, or is it a move born out of increasing desperation on the part of JLR?
According to Car and Driver, the VW group, still smarting from their dieselgate misadventures, are most likely to settle with JLR out of court, without actually licensing the disputed technology.